


Art initiates Life

by melonbutterfly



Series: Trope Bingo stories [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Breaking the Fourth Wall, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Fourth Wall, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 16:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6203338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbutterfly/pseuds/melonbutterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Tony exposes Bucky to the magic of fandom via fanart of Steve and Bucky, and that gets Bucky thinking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Art initiates Life

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't even mean to title them according to the squares, but this one just sounds too poetic not to.

Steve knows what fans do, of course. They're the single most creative united force on the planet and it can be awe-inspiring, the sheer amount of talent that people pour into something that he's part of, simply for the heck of it. It's humbling, too, knowing that it's him or an aspect of him or at least what he represents that touches so many people, inspires them to draw or write. As an artist himself, Steve knows that that's nothing to be scoffed at; inspiration and muse are fickle things.

Sometimes interviewers like to ask him what he thinks and it always feels vaguely like bullying, even if there isn't anything about it that Steve can call out. Doesn't mean that he plays along, of course, when they read him salacious stories about him or show him suggestive drawings starring him and expect him to be offended, to laugh. Steve never does.

Fans are incredible. If there's one thing Steve will never dislike about being as well-known as he is, it's that in an abstract sense, the image of him brings happiness into people's lives. And the fandom has been steadily increasing from the beginning when he was still with SHIELD in the early Avengers days, where someone's punishment had been getting to explain slash and erotic fanfic to Steve.

Point being, he knows it exists, knows that people like to picture him in intimate relationships with his team mates, then and now, and he's gotten used to it. Not to say it was an entirely comfortable thought at first, but it got loads better when Steve realised that it wasn't so much about him as it was about the idea of him. The Steve Rogers, Captain America, people wrote about was much more the Steve Rogers and Captain America they _wanted_ him to be. As paradox as it seemed at first, it's not at all personal. Sure, some people go too far, but most of them are absolutely aware of the distinction between reality and fiction, fantasy and real life. Steve knows this, has delved into this topic at length in an effort to understand. He can't say he can relate, not really, but that doesn't mean he has to dislike it.

And so he does not at all appreciate when Tony, giggling like a school boy, shows him naughty drawings of Steve and whomever. When he informs Tony of this, bristling in a way that makes clear that this is not a joke, Tony sighs but drops it.

As a consequence, Steve thinks they're done with the subject. Knowing Tony, he really should've known better, but somehow he doesn't realize until a couple of weeks after he and Bucky have moved into Avengers Tower.

They're doing okay. Bucky is steadily getting better and so is Steve, who on the eve of recovering his best friend finally had to admit that he himself isn't doing as well as he'd been pretending for the past two years. Sure, there are still gaps in Bucky's memory and he'll be doing therapy for years to come, but he's secure in himself now, his own person and as safe to be around as any other soldier suffering from PTSD.

It's not often anymore that he comes to Steve with an expression of puzzled confusion, eyes too wide in a way that makes Clint refer to him as "baby kitten", like that's not a complete hyperbole. His question, however, is not at all kitten-like, asked with that new frankness he adapted at one point because, as he said, he doesn't have the time nor patience to waste on faffing around a topic. "Did we use to have sex?"

Completely caught off-guard, Steve fumbles with the xbox controller and ultimately drops it. On the screen, his character gets discovered and dies a violent death, but Steve doesn't even notice, too busy staring open-mouthed at Bucky. "W-what? Why do you think that?"

"Tony showed me these drawings of us," Bucky explains, settling into his corner of the loveseat. "And people on the internet are apparently arguing if we were having sex first or if Holmes and Watson did. You didn't answer the question."

" _Oh_." Steve is going to _kill_ Tony. Friendly jokes are one thing and okay, Bucky isn't fragile enough to be messed with easily anymore either, but still. "No, we didn't use to have sex. And what people are arguing over is, I guess, if people were thinking about us having sex first or if people were thinking about Holmes and Watson having sex first. It's not about if we actually had it – and Holmes and Watson aren't real people anyway – but about who thought about us having it first."

"Okay." Bucky frowns. "That's a frickin' weird thing to be arguing about though. They write stories about us too, did you know that?"

Definitely killing Tony. Resigned, Steve nods. "Tony show you that too?"

"No, I found that on my own after I went looking." Eyes narrowing, Bucky peers at Steve searchingly for a moment. "It got me thinking."

Everything in Steve grinds to a halt. "...thinking?" he echoes dumbly.

"About you and me," Bucky clarifies, like they're talking about baseball scores. "If we had been having sex and you hadn't told me I would've been pissed. But I was also thinking that I would like to have been having sex with you. Which made me realize that I would like to be having sex with you."

"Right now?" Blinking rapidly, Steve stares at Bucky, aware that this is probably the dumbest question he's ever asked, ever.

Still so goddamn calm and nonchalant, Bucky shrugs. "I guess. I meant more in general too, though."

"I, uh." It takes Steve a couple of moments to collect his thoughts after that little bomb. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea." It's not that he hasn't thought about it – now nor then – but... well, it's not that.

"Because you don't want to?"

"No!" It bursts out of Steve, and right as it happens he knows he shouldn't have said it like that. He still would've had had to say it, he doesn't lie to Bucky ever, but the way he says something matters a lot, too.

Eyes narrowing, Bucky tilts his head. "So you do want to," he clarifies. "Why do you think it wouldn't be a good idea?"

Shit. "Because I, uh, we... I think there is too much between us, connecting us I mean, for casual sex not to complicate everything." There, that was a good explanation, and completely true to boot.

For a moment Bucky just stares at Steve, expression blank the way it automatically goes when he's caught off-guard. But then his face softens, eyes going warm. "Steve." He scoots closer, takes Steve's hand, cradling it gently between his. "That's not what I meant. I agree, casual sex wouldn't be a good idea between us."

Stunned into silence, Steve stares first at Bucky, then down to their hands, both of Bucky's curled around his like it's precious, a treasure. "Y-you mean... dating? You want to date me?"

Bucky hums in agreement, a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth as he grows surer of his reception. "Yeah." His voice, gone low and a little rough, sends a shiver through Steve's body. "I want to kiss you, take you out, hold you close and kiss you some more, and taste you, touch you..." With every word he leans in a little bit, or perhaps that's Steve who's leaning in, or both of them; all Steve knows that Bucky is getting closer and closer, voice dark and raspy, utterly seductive. "How about it, Steve? You want that?"

"God, yes," Steve breathes, gaze dipping down to Bucky's lips, red and so, so close.

Bucky surges forwards to breach that last remaining inch of distance between them and then Steve feels those lips against his, warm and a little damp like Bucky's licked them, moving so purposeful as Bucky fits their mouths together. A little moan escapes Steve as he returns the kiss, unashamed now to admit that he's been thinking about this very moment for years, decades. Dreaming about the sensation of Bucky's lips against his, but no matter how active his imagination, it doesn't hold a candle to reality, the feeling of Bucky in his space, so close, kissing him because he wants Steve t.oo

And then it's over and Bucky's pulling away. Confused and definitely not ready yet for this to be over Steve follows him but Bucky stops him with a hand on his chest and a small, hoarse laugh. "Nuh-uh, Rogers. Go get dressed." Then he's off the sofa, far too far away and far too quickly for Steve's brain to catch up with him.

"What? Bucky?"

"Get dressed," Bucky repeats, already almost out of the living room. "I'm taking you dancing. I promised to take you out, remember?"

It takes Steve a moment to remember what Bucky's talking about, and then recall the exact sequence of things he said he wanted to do with Steve. Then he scrambles off the sofa and towards his bedroom to get dressed.


End file.
